Cuisinart FP-9CF Continuous Feed Food Processor Review

The continuous-feed attachment is a separate work bowl with a side chute and a slinger disc. It replaces the 9-cup bowl on the base; it does not feed into it. You cannot chop in the main bowl while slicing through the chute, and the chute does slicing and shredding only, with no chopping, pureeing or dough.

Setting it up in order

Lock the continuous-feed bowl on the base, drop the stem adapter in, set the slinger disc rib-side up, then the slicing or shredding disc. The cover goes on with the feed tube at the back: latch the back first, then press the front down.

The catch vessel rule

Set a bowl or saucepan under the chute, with straight sides, under 6 inches tall, stable on the counter. Output is limited only by the receptacle, so you swap in an empty one and keep going. This is the difference between the feature working and food flying across the counter.

Two pushers, two tube sizes

The narrow tube holds carrots and cucumbers upright for long shreds; the wide one takes a block of cheese or a potato. Cut one end flat and load flat-side down, then push with even pressure, light for soft foods and firm for hard. Trim small items such as mushrooms, radishes and strawberries so they stand upright, roll leafy greens and stand them upright, chill soft cheese and bring hard cheese to room temperature.

Volume slicing and shredding without stopping is the headline strength. A block of cheese, a pile of cabbage for slaw, sliced radishes and hard vegetables all go straight into a bowl or pot, and buyers describe shredding a block of cheese in seconds and making coleslaw for 20 with ease. One buyer says the machine retired the mandoline at home, and the processor is the safe, fast version of the same job.

Two reversible discs give four cuts: fine slice, fine shred, medium slice and medium shred. The machine weighs 7.9 lb and measures 7.5 inches deep, 9 inches wide and 15 inches high, so it lifts out of a low cabinet and sits still on the counter. Controls are High, Low and Pulse-Off, with no presets to learn, and all removable parts are top-rack dishwasher safe while the base wipes clean.

The universal blade handles dough on Low up to 2½ cups of flour, one pizza or pie dough, and there is no separate dough blade. The chute-and-slinger design plus the two reversible discs are what justify this machine's place in a kitchen.

The Cuisinart FP-9CF is not an all-purpose processor. The wide, shallow bowl and the blade geometry leave hummus and pesto grainy rather than smooth, and that is a bowl-and-blade limitation, not a motor one.

The 9-cup label overstates usable capacity

The manual's task chart gives the real numbers:

• sliced or shredded fruit, vegetables or cheese: 8 cups
• chopped fruit or vegetable: 5 cups
• pureed fruit or vegetable: 3½ cups cooked, yielding 2¼ cups pureed
• chopped cheese: 2½ cups
• chopped or pureed raw meat, fish or seafood: 1 lb
• thin liquid: 5 cups
• cake batter: one 8-inch cheesecake or one 15.25-oz boxed mix
• cookie dough: 2 dozen
• bread or pizza dough: 2½ cups of flour
• nuts for nut butter: 2½ cups

Assembly and the safety interlock

The bowl, lid and pushers must line up exactly or the machine will not power up. That is good for safety and fiddly at first, and buyers say so: one found the work bowl assembly confusing, another calls the interlock a strong safety feature that takes some getting used to.

Cheese and clogging under the lid

With the continuous-feed attachment, narrow cheese blocks can escape the chute, and shreds can collect under the lid instead of dropping into the receptacle. One buyer reports cheese flying everywhere while grating. The catch-vessel rule and flat-side-down loading are the mitigations.

Plastic bowl and the handle

The bowl, lid and pushers are plastic, and the bowl handle is part of the interlock, so a cracked handle stops the machine. One buyer reports the handle cracking off and the processor becoming unusable, which is a practical warning rather than a verdict on how long the plastic lasts.

No frills in the box

There is no dicing kit, julienne or French-fry disc, adjustable slicer, whisk, mini bowl, refrigerator lid or storage case. Two fixed discs are the whole cut repertoire. No noise figure is published, and buyer reports are mixed: one calls it quiet for its size, another says it is loud and jumped around the counter. Replacement parts listed for this model are the work bowl and the work bowl cover, so check availability of discs, blade and continuous-feed bowl before you rely on long-term spares.

The motor is rated at 350 watts on 120 volts, which is the machine's actual rating; wattage alone does not tell you how a processor performs. The work bowl holds 9 cups and is plastic, the blades are stainless steel, and the cord is 30 inches long. The warranty is a 3-year limited one.

What comes in the box

The box holds the motor base; the 9-cup work bowl and cover with small and medium pushers and a lid seal; the universal chopping, mixing and dough blade; a fine reversible slicing and shredding disc; a medium reversible slicing and shredding disc; a stem adapter; an in-bowl storage hub; the continuous-feed attachment with its bowl, stem adapter and slinger disc; and an instruction and recipe booklet. The storage hub keeps the discs with the machine instead of loose in a drawer.